The Elder Scrolls is really one of those series that I just wanted to give some more time to. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim are all such major games in the realm of the Western RPG. Earlier in our Pong and Beyond blog we covered Morrowind but I knew that for Before I Kick I wanted to focus more on Oblivionsince it was the game that I bought for personal gaming before even starting on that gaming blog.

I was basically sold on the premise of a game by the makers of Fallout 3 that was set in the world of elves and dragons. Now whilst this game doesn’t quite boast the dragons or the arrow-in-the-kneeness of Skyrim this is still pretty fantastical.

Thing is, after having played and fallen for Fallout 3 about 6 years ago it was weird to go to a game which shared so many hallmarks but did not feel as polished (although to call Fallout 3 in all its glitchy beauty ‘polished’ may be taking it a little far). The feature that Oblivion had which kept me playing, however, was the freedom. Not the fake freedom that exists in most games but the fact that you could happily play this game for hours and hours and have only done the first few main quests.

On the other hand, the adaptive difficulty of the game is remarkably broken if you are unaware of how it works. The fact that it becomes incredibly difficult if you level up certain stats too quickly makes this annoying, especially if you go for a magical class and over level-up your sneaking. Still, a strategically placed save point eliminates a number of these difficulties.

The version of The Secret of Monkey Islandwe actually played (to completion) was one with updated graphics and voice acting (there was an option to play it as the original game… but opted to stick with the revamp out of sheer increase in accessibility).

In many ways it plays like a good Monty Python sketch, in fact I could imagine this being a Monty Python movie when it comes down to the humour. As someone who is not a particular fan of the group this could read as an insult but I loved The Life of Brian so… take from this as you will. I’m just glad that for the gaming blog I will be playing the sequel. Squee.